


Light

by MadHattie



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ensemble Cast, Gen, POV Second Person, Spoilers - Pacifist Route, Spoilers-True End
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2015-10-06
Packaged: 2018-04-25 05:02:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4947697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadHattie/pseuds/MadHattie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moving forward is never as hard when you're moving towards something that's better than what you're leaving behind</p>
            </blockquote>





	Light

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning for mentions of abuse. They're pretty small, but I don't want to accidentally bring up bad memories.

The mountain looms over your village when the sun goes down, its shadow casting everything into premature darkness. The waning sunlight surrounds the peak like a halo and for just an hour the rocky slope is bathed in gold. You always thought that it looked inviting. But of course there were the superstitions. You heard tales told in whispered voices about how humans who climbed the mountain never returned. About how locked inside the mountain there were hordes of monsters that had been locked away. About how once a monster emerged from the mountain with a human corpse in its arms.

But the fairytales don’t seem as scary as the reality that you face. The cold looks and harsh words. The still-healing scabs. Disappearing into the mountain seems more appealing than it should.

 

You decide to head out when the light leaves the golden flower meadows for the rocky peak. You take a sturdy stick to help you walk and make sure that your bandage is done up tight. You want to find your way to the top with as few problems as possible. You don’t think that anyone notices you leaving.  
The path to the top is steep and narrow. The rocks sometimes crumble beneath your feet as you try to climb. You can feel your breath catch in the back of your throat, but you are determined to make it before nightfall. You don’t even know what you will do once you’re there. There could be nothing at the top but dirt and empty sky. You just hope that somehow that place will be better than the place you left behind.

The entrance to the underground is dark and cavernous. It opens like a gaping mouth in the ground. You scuff the edge of your shoe against the edge and listen to the loose pebbles tumbling down. The world below you is filled with shadow, but you think that you can see a hint of green grass and the yellow shine of buttercups. They all look so far down. You begin to wonder if this was a good idea. You lean forward to try to get a better glimpse at what’s down there, and as you do the world falls out from beneath you. You hear air rush past your ears for a few moments before everything goes black.

 

Toriel seems nice, but the things she tells you about the Ruins scares you, especially after your encounter with the flower creature. You don’t want her to leave you alone, but you wait for a few minutes to follow her so she won’t be disappointed in you. You call her up on the phone that she gave you and manage to accidentally call her “mom” before you hang up, embarrassed. You hurry through the puzzles and try not to bother the small ghostly creatures that seem to blend in with the shadows.

Toriel’s house is warm and cozy and you don’t know what to do with yourself when you’re there. You wander through the lamp-lit halls and take a few bites of the pie that she made for you. You don’t think that anyone’s made pie for you before. You don’t know how to feel when you’re here. Part of you wants to stay here forever, but you can’t shake the feeling that it won’t last. It never has before, after all.  
You cry when you leave Toriel, just a little bit, and not when she can see you. You don’t want her to know how hard it was for you to decide to move forward. You step outside and your feet crunch in the snow. The cold bites at your knuckles as you clutch your walking stick. The cell phone feels heavy in your pocket. You resist the urge to call.

 

The skeletons are… overwhelming. There’s Papyrus, with his endless exuberance and insistence on capturing you, and Sans, with his jokes and the glint in his eye like he knows something that you don’t. They don’t seem too threatening, but you don’t like the sound of being captured, so you make your way through the puzzles and try not to laugh at Papyrus’s disbelief. You just hope that he won’t make you eat his spaghetti.

 

The waterfall region feels sad, and you can’t quite figure out why. It could be the quiet whispers of the echo flowers as you pass by, or the rain that falls around the crumbling statue. You think that it might be because of the stars. You can’t see the real stars from here, but there are tiny bits of phosphorescent moss that glimmer on the ceiling. They’re beautiful, but they feel like a sort of false hope, an imitation of something that can no longer be reached. It makes you want to see the sky again.

 

You can tell that Undyne hates you, but you give her water anyway, because you don’t like to see anyone get hurt. She scares you with her passion for her job and her tales of the other humans that fell down here. You can see the resentment and the anger that she’s built up, and you wonder if she really hates all humans, or if she just hates being trapped down here. At least now you know that there’s a way out for you.

 

Alphys makes you laugh with how human she seems. Sure, she has a laboratory and a giant flamboyant robot, but she also has a desk covered in papers and used dishes, and a collection of anime DVDs. You appreciate her help, even when it feels like she isn’t really helping. A lot of what she does seems almost apologetic, like she’s constantly trying to make up for her mistakes. You wish that she would realize that she’s not as bad as she thinks she is. Maybe then she would finally admit to her huge crush on Undyne. She has it so bad that even you can see it.

Later you see for yourself what Alphys has to apologize for. It sits like a stone in the pit of your stomach. You come to the realization that the people here would do anything to get out.

 

The core isn’t as quiet as you feel it should be. You imagined that the final leg of your journey would be hushed, ominous, but instead the place bustles with life. The monsters here are full of hope. They all believe that one day the barrier will be broken and they will have a better life. You find yourself not wanting to take that hope away. You think of all the people that you’ve met here, of Sans and Papyrus, of Undyne and Alphys, and you realize that you want them to be happy even more than you want to go home. More determined than ever, you make your way towards the barrier.

 

The king knows how this has to end, but he doesn’t want it to end this way any more than you do. As he stands there in front of that glowing passage, he reminds you of Toriel as she stood before the gate. You wish that you could have seen her one last time. Even so, you are more determined than ever to move forward. You have made so many friends here, and you want them to feel the sunlight on their skin just as you once did. You take a step forward.

 

You’ve come this far; you cannot back down now. That’s what you think as Asriel spreads his wings out before you. You can feel your heart pounding in your throat. Your soul is blazing like a fire. You are determined.

 

In the end he’s just a sad little kid. A sad, lonely little kid, just like you were when you climbed the mountain. You hold him close like you wish someone had done for you.

 

The underground is buzzing with joy and excitement. Everyone you talk to has a smile on their face. You feel happier than you have in years.

 

The air is warm when you walk through the barrier, your friends trailing behind you. You can hear their excited clamor as they approach. Spread out before you is the town that you left not so long ago, tiny against the backdrop of the mountain. You have come so far since you left that place, you realize as you hear your friends gasp behind you. All around you the world is filled with light.


End file.
